- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 11131
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A common nuclear power reactor design in which very pure water is heated to a very high temperature by fission, kept under high pressure (to prevent it from boiling), and converted to steam by a steam generator (rather than by boiling, as in a boiling-water reactor). The resulting steam is used to drive turbines, which activate generators to produce electrical power. A pressurized-water reactor (PWR) essentially operates like a pressure cooker, where a lid is tightly placed over a pot of heated water, causing the pressure inside to increase as the temperature increases (because the steam cannot escape) but keeping the water from boiling at the usual 212°F (100°C). About two-thirds of the operating nuclear reactor power plants in the United States are PWRs.
Industry:Energy
A reactor designed to produce heat for electric generation (as distinguished from reactors used for research), for producing radiation or fissionable materials or for reactor component testing.
Industry:Energy
A brief summary report issued by the NRC staff to notify the Commission of the occurrence of a significant event that appears to have health and safety significance or major public or media interest. PNs are based on information provided by State radiation control program staff.
Industry:Energy
The process of increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial nuclear power plant may operate. This power level, regulated by the NRC, is included in the plant’s operating license and technical specifications. A licensee may only change its maximum power output after the NRC approves an uprate application. The NRC analyses must demonstrate that the plant could continue to operate safely with its proposed new configuration. When all requisite conditions are fulfilled, the NRC may grant the power uprate by amending the plant’s operating license and technical specifications.
Industry:Energy
The total amount of reactivity added due to a given change in power. It can also be expressed as the integrated power coefficient over the range of the power change.
Industry:Energy
The change in reactivity per percent change in power. The power coefficient is the summation of the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity, the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity, and the void coefficient of reactivity.
Industry:Energy
A license, issued by the NRC, that authorizes the licensee to possess specific nuclear material but does not authorize its use or the operation of a nuclear facility.
Industry:Energy
In reactor physics, a substance (other than fissionable material) that has a large capacity for absorbing neutrons in the vicinity of the reactor core. This effect may be undesirable in some reactor applications because it may prevent or disrupt the fission chain reaction, thereby affecting normal operation. However, neutron-absorbing materials (commonly known as poisons are intentionally inserted into some types of reactors to decrease the reactivity of their initial fresh fuel load.
Industry:Energy
Particle equal in mass but opposite in charge to the electron. A positive electron.
Industry:Energy
A reactor in which the fuel elements are suspended in a pool of water that serves as the reflector, moderator, and coolant. Popularly called a "swimming pool reactor," it is used for research and training, not for electrical generation.
Industry:Energy
